


The mysteries of humanity

by noo



Category: Almost Human
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Gen, Pre-Relationship, almost human secret santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-02
Updated: 2014-01-02
Packaged: 2018-01-07 03:25:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1114911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noo/pseuds/noo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christmas made humans a little stranger at times, even around the precinct.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The mysteries of humanity

Dorian was learning, presumably once again, that touch was important to humans. Maya had needed the comfort of touch, even from one like him, and he had been only too pleased to help out in such a small way. John seemed to want that connection, even if he wasn’t as immune for the desire as he liked to project. The hugs he received from Kelly Cooper and Paige, and then there was the little leaning he would do toward Detective Stahl. All of these were telling Dorian that John craved touch.

Detective Stahl wasn’t immune either. The looks, the movement of her hands closer to John’s, Dorian was sure it indicated that she was attracted to John. There was something a little more right now, with both of them trying to hide it. Dorian did not understand why, why fight the attraction they both had?

Dorian looked around the precinct floor from his spot by John. 

“Will you stop hovering and sit down?” John complained as kept looking at the paperwork on his screen that he was still having to fill out.

Now was the end of a very hard double shift, with a troubling case around the kidnapping of three young children, so Dorian sat. It was not an ‘outta the funk snapping’ time that Dorian liked to annoy John with on occasions. This had been a kidnapping that no one had even been aware of for six months, with them being switched by very high-end black market android replacements. Detective Paul had been his usual polite self about the parents not noticing the differences.

The only clue they had about who kidnapped the kids was that they ended up over The Wall for a period of time and then brought back over it again, which is to say it was no real clue at all. Even Rudy was stumped about the creation of the android children. They were so good that Dorian had not picked up they were creations initially. It was only when a full bio-scan was run that he could spot them. Their tech was so much more compact than his, so much more human-like overall than even him.

Captain Maldonado had been biting the inside of her cheek during the course of the investigation and she was doing it again. It would give her an ulcer if she didn’t stop. Dorian knew better than to point that out though.

Detective Stahl was back to quietly watching John. Dorian returned the favor, so to speak, and it was then that he noticed something different about both Detective Stahl’s and John’s desks. There were no personal Christmas decorations. Dorian used the reflection in the windows to check the whole of the precinct room. Every desk had something personal on there, to go with the holograms integrated into the glass of the rooms. Even Detective Paul and Captain Maldonado had ornaments. The gentle flashes of the holographic lights did not detract from the reflections behind him.

Why nothing on John or Detective Stahl’s desks? It might be possible that Detective Stahl was agnostic or an atheist. Other religions could be a possibility but Buddhism was highly unlikely, especially with her marksmanship scores. There was the probability that both John and Detective Stahl were in the 6% of people who identified as Christians and who disagreed with the commercialization of the Christmas holiday period. Detective Stahl’s desk was lacking other personal touches too. John believed in God, from his treasured St. Christopher’s medal to the discussion they had about mortality and the belief in a life after death. John was still refusing to take Dorian to go see Maya though. He just wanted to see her happy. 

Dorian heard the little squeak John’s chair made ready to push it back. The print order from John and the submission of the report was finally done. John was going to get up to retrieve one of the folders to put the report in. Humans still did love their paper copies. Dorian followed as it was going to take them past Captain Maldonado’s office and Dorian might get a chance to ask after the children. He knew they had been sent to Rudy, and Dorian wanted to see them. They were so much more sophisticated and lifelike than even him. Captain Maldonado hadn’t given the order to destroy them like Vanessa and the others had been. Yet. They were almost perfect copies of the children, including their DNA.

Dorian got up to follow along and sure enough Captain Maldonado quietly called out to John as they walked past. Dorian waited for the right moment to ask to see the children.

“John, what are your plans for Christmas tomorrow?” 

Dorian observed that wry smile that told him that John knew she already knew the answer to that question.

“Working the early shift and hoping the idiots decide to take the day off from committing stupidity,” John replied.

“You are welcome to join me for dinner.”

“Thanks, Sandra, but I see what you are doing. And I’m not going to be a decoy so you won’t have to talk to your brother and that wife of his. That’s the best thing about Christmas family dinners. Being trapped and having to play nice with family members you would never in a million years ever want to converse with again. But, thanks, anyway. I already have dinner plans.”

The fondness, tinged with exasperation that Captain Maldonado felt for John was very obvious on her face. “Where do you get that liking for Asian cuisine from?” she asked, arms crossed over her chest, fingers tapping a small beat that only she could hear. 

“Academy days. You know what it was like, limited funds and this growing boy needed to eat.” John actually winked at Captain Maldonado before waving a hand nonchalantly toward his body. 

Dorian knew now was not the time to ask the Captain about the children. This was a conversation between her and John and their past and to bring attention to himself would likely result in a refusal for his request. Especially as John actually made the Captain laugh. It was quiet and contained, but Dorian had never seen her laugh before.

“Oh, and he’s got a new wife, John,” she said as John started to walk away. “She’s worse than the last one.”

That stopped John dead in his tracks. And John sent a combined look of horror and disbelief John back in the Captain’s direction.

“You were going to invite me to _that_?” John asked, a hint of trepidation in his voice. Now, this Dorian found very interesting.

“It’s what Christmas is all about, John. Trapping family members into uncomfortable situations.” The Captain was actually smiling at John.

“Thanks for that! I’ll take a raincheck on it until he gets a new wife.” John smiled softly back at the Captain before heading once more off in the direction of the printer room.

His chance gone, Dorian fell into step behind John. 

“Don’t ask,” John said while Dorian put on his ‘innocent face’.

Dorian stopped and used the reflection once more to surreptitiously watch Detective Stahl as John went into the printer room. Detective Stahl had been very interested in the conversation between the Captain and John. When John came out, Dorian decided it was time to try some of his own detective work. 

He found a spot away from the MXs, who still creeped him out and close enough to John’s desk to overhear, but with his back turned he could still observe John and Detective Stahl. While the rest of the precinct busied about trying to finalize everything and get out of the office, Dorian muted their mutterings as much as possible to focus just on the two that he wanted to hear. He made a little bet with himself about how long it would take Detective Stahl to come up with an excuse to go see John. Previous encounters had John gravitating toward Detective Stahl within at least a minute of seeing her. She often waited for John to come into her path Dorian had seen. So he gave her two minutes, maybe three at the most before she instigated an encounter.

Two minutes, and eleven seconds to be precise, was all it took. John had been leaning back in his chair, his ‘concerned face’ on as he stared at a picture of the android children. Instead of standing, as she was often wont to do, Detective Stahl actually sat in the chair next to John, the one that was normally Dorian’s. Her presence made him sit up straighter and reach forward to close the image.

Dorian got a new touch observation next. No more skirting around it, Detective Stahl actually reached forward and touched John’s hand, stopping him. For all their closeness they had been displaying, both had avoided actual touch. Dorian would have to turn to observe John properly if he wanted to see if John’s heart rate had increased. He was sure it would be, but if he turned to watch, he might be observed and so would Detective Stahl and John. Dorian wanted them to have some semblance of privacy, even in the midst of the bullpen.

“I think today is a bottom of the drawer bourbon day,” Detective Stahl said as she slowly withdrew her hand. Dorian watched the slow glide she made, still keeping touch as the tips of her fingers slowly and delicately traveled across John’s hand. 

John’s eye-line flickered down to her hand before quickly returning to look at her face. He knew John liked brown eyes, and Detective Stahl had a pair of them that was deemed very attractive by current beauty standards. Her comment was confusing to Dorian although. He knew what John had in his drawers and bourbon was not one of the items. The way she said it and John’s reaction told Dorian that John knew what she meant. Did this mean that Detective Stahl had the bourbon in her drawers? If so, that was something new about her that Dorian filed away for future consideration.

“A bit early to break it out, don’t you think? Too many other prying eyes around to see where you keep the good stuff,” John replied. So Dorian’s suspicions were proven correct. Detective Stahl had the bourbon and it was good quality too. And John knew about it. Which meant they had shared it before, or talked about it. John had been holding out on him. Reginald might just have to be teased about this in the near future.

“Some days it is never too early,” Detective Stahl observed in that quiet and calm voice she had with a little smile curving up the ends of her mouth.

“True, but others might steal it from you if they knew you had it.”

“You haven’t,” Detective Stahl said, still amused at John.

“Ah, I’m an honest man though.”

Dorian tried desperately to hold his snort in at that blatant lie. He was fairly unsuccessful and it came out as a sort of choke instead and a passing officer inquired after his health. Dorian missed the next part of the exchange as he diverted the Officer’s attention away from himself and went back to pretending to look through some files.

The very amused look on Detective Stahl’s face told Dorian enough that she didn’t believe what John was saying either.

“What! I haven’t!” John protested. 

“Here isn’t the best place right now, I agree,” Detective Stahl. “And not McQuaid’s either. I know somewhere where the bourbon is better.”

Now that had taken John aback and made him speechless, Dorian observed. Detective Stahl stood up, and Dorian watched intently as her hand, which had been resting on John’s desk, made another finger trip travel, this time across the desk, as she took a step closer to John around the desk. Her position made her taller than John and had him leaning back in his chair and twisting just a little to face her, hands resting on the arm rest. Dorian watched their hands, John’s loose and open and so very close to hers. Another small step and she would be within his space, within the open space between his legs. Dorian knew enough about body language to know the signals they were both giving each other. Would they finally act on the mutual attraction and bad flirting from John, finally?

“I’ll send you the address,” Detective Stahl said and then just walked away. She didn’t wait for John to reply or tell him where, but if the look on John’s face was any indication, he was not going to decline the invitation he just received.

Humans confused him at times. When they should advance, they retreated, when they should retreat, they would advance. He might have been decommissioned for a perceived emotional instability but human’s were worse. At least it seemed that John was going to advance forward when he should, finally. Dorian closed the file he had been pretending to look over as John received a message on his phone. Dorian didn’t feel a tinge of guilt at all at checking the message himself. He smiled as he recognized the address. It was _not_ a bar.

It looked like John might not be spending Christmas alone, and neither would Detective Stahl.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [ucarim](http://ucarim.tumblr.com/) for the Almost Human Secret Santa on tumblr. I hope they like the story, as I tried to fit in as many of their prompt suggestions I could.


End file.
